Camp Out: Trustees Deny Circle Beach Paddle Plan

Residents of the Pine Neck neighborhood circled the wagons and came out in passionate opposition to a children’s camp on their Noyac beach, urging the Southampton Town Trustees to deny the request for what residents see as a square peg in a round hole, earlier this month.

This week, the Trustees did just that.

Citing an array of reasons to justify their decision, members voted on Monday, May 16, to deny a proposed license agreement between the Trustees and Kamadeva Yoga LLC for the purpose of allowing its founder, yoga instructor Jessica Bellofatto, to use Circle Beach and its waters for paddleboard classes and half-day camps for kids.

Residents raised concerns about such safety issues as the lack of a lifeguard at the beach and increased traffic in the channel adjacent to the beach, as well as from the three marinas in Mill Creek and moored boats. They expressed concern about the lack of restroom facilities, the paucity of parking and the lack of garbage cans.

During hearings held on April 18 and May 2, speakers expressed the most worry about the specter of more fast traffic on their erstwhile sleepy lane, described by speakers at the May 2 outing as “a raceway.”

“The people of Pine Neck don’t own Circle Beach,” Bellofatto said this week, reacting to the denial. “They don’t own the road, either. There’s traffic everywhere in town we all need to deal with.”

If people are speeding on Pine Neck Avenue, residents should call the police and demand better enforcement, she said. “That has nothing to do with me,’’ she said, emphasizing that her camp would have been a low-intensity use in the area.

Bellofatto has been a yoga instructor on the East End for decades. She didn’t offer information about her next plans, but she noted that she continues to teach private yoga classes as well as give private paddleboard lessons “all over.” She said she doesn’t publicize where she takes individual students, as she feels “treated like a criminal.”

The denial came as no surprise. After the public completed their comments at the May 2 hearing, Trustees President Scott Horowitz said, “It’s pretty evident that this area you are requesting is very highly constrained.” He suggested an alternative plan may be better received.

As of the beginning of the month, officials reported over 150 letters and emails about the project, none in support. Bellofatto countered that there were hundreds in support of her.

“There were a lot of us there,” said Ellen Kristiansen, a lifelong summer resident of the area. “We really had it in our hearts that it’s the wrong place for this.” She said she and her neighbors understand Circle Beach is a public beach open to all, and “that made it even more wrong,” she said. “Noyac folks stuck together on this.”

Located at the end of Pine Neck Avenue, Circle Beach fronts on Noyac Bay, with a peninsula that also fronts on Mill Creek and its channel into the bay.